Sociology 203

Winter, 2022

April 1
Assigned Reading #9

A. Textbook Readings- Chapter 11

1. Identify and describe the 4 major theories used to better understand young adults’ transition from
school into the labour force. (322; Careers: Linking School and Work section)
 Segmented labour market theory: labour market is stratified, and that entry and upward
mobility are difficult for people with only a high school education
 human capital theory: proposing a linear relationship between education and job
attainment: more education gets people better jobs
 Signalling theory: referring to symbolic means attached to different attainments on a
person's resume; also refers to the employers decoding of signals in assessing the potential
worth and trainability of a young employee.
 Network theory: noting the importance of social networks and social capital in gaining
employment. especially the importance of friends ending acquaintances is who vouch for
the quality of the potential employee
2. What were the goals and long-term impacts of the residential schooling system in Canada? (328-
329; Indigenous Issues and Education section)
 Goal to assimilate the indigenous Youth in two dominant Euro-Christian Canadian culture
o Racialization: an imposition of unwanted racial identities on minorities
 Left many hanging between two worlds: a white society that rejected their heritage and an
indigenous culture that they were kept from fully understanding.
 stripped of their kin networks, language, and distinctive worldview
 still feeling the abusive, humiliating effects. Continue to bear scars of forced assimilation
o evident in their high rates of crime, imprisonment, addiction, violence, and
victimization. also their low rates of educational attainment
3. According to Dorn, Bowen, and Blau, there are 3 main categories of student dropouts. Discuss. Why
are boys more likely to drop out of school compared to girls? (338-341; School Dropouts and The
Increasing Prevalence of Male Dropouts- Reversals in Attainment sections)
 Dropout: Dropout theories focus on students who find themselves unable to cope
intellectually (or) cognitively with school materials
 pullout: pull out theories are class based and focus on students who withdraw from
schooling because of financial troubles
 pushout: push out theories focus on the school and community as contextual factors that
influence high school dropout rates
 Young men are reportedly less likely to have an intellectual, social, or emotional investment
in school endeavors. they are anxious to work and earn money, and This is why they drop
out of high school.
o Teenage pregnancy plays more crucial role in a girl's decision to drop out of school
o If we want to further reduce the rate of female dropouts we should focus on

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #9 April 1, 2022

 improved sex education and contraceptive availability for young women reducing
the rate of male dropouts would be more difficult: we'd have to find ways to get
young men interested in learning, starting with making sure they develop the
reading skills they'll need in further education.
4. What is cyberbullying? What is the role of media and technology in bullying in schools? (342-343;
Bullying section)
 Cyberbullying: a technological extension of physical bullying occurring when an individual
uses information technology to embarrass, harass, intimidate, or threaten others.
o Most common bullying method
 Widespread access to the Internet has increased the prevalence of a knew form of bullying.
online experience begins at younger age.

Textbook Readings- Chapter 12

1. Discuss the social consequences of gender discrimination in the workplace. Transsexual people are
more likely to experience discrimination and harassment in the workplace. (357 -361; Gender
Discrimination section)
 “Glass ceiling”
o Results in gender based earning difference
o women over-represented in lower end of occupational market, where dead end or
part time work dominates. low wages and job instability means full time workers
lived in poverty.
o Gender stereotypes
o Women under-represented in leadership positions. relationship between gender,
educational attainment, and employment rates
o Unpaid labour
 Transsexual people also more likely than those with a normative gender identity and
expression to have a lower income.
o the problems transsexual people face in the workplace typically result from
misconceptions, from a lack of official company policies for hiring and working with
transsexual people and occasionally from transphobia

2. According to the authors of our textbook, our estimates of unemployment provide ‘too rosy a
picture of the actual reality’. Explain. (372; Types of Unemployment and Their Measurement section)
 Discriminatory unemployment: resulting from discrimination against particular groups, such
as ethnic minorities and women
 Structural unemployment: calls by social and economic factors that affect workers equally
across all groups, such as corporate downsizing, capital flight, and the automation of work
processes.
 Discouraged workers: people who aren't actively seeking employment. Specifically, they are
thought to have turn their backs on the traditional work system and to have abandoned any
desire to be gainfully employed
o Unemployment measures do not include discouraged workers
 Because of exclusions most official unemployment rates understate the true percentage of

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #9 April 1, 2022

 the unemployed which in turn underestimates the size of the unemployment problem
o Don't distinguish between full time and part time workers, nor do they recognize
odd jobs, temporary work, and other forms of underemployment as different from
full-time work
o Person reporting working one hour a week is considered gainfully employed

3. What are some of the safety issues in Canadian workplaces? Discuss (374-376; Workplace Safety
Issues section)
 Canada relative to other wealthy countries still relies on the dangerous work of resource
extraction (logging, fishing, oil drilling, mining) and on heavy manufacturing.
 some industries are more dangerous than others (e.g., transportation and material moving
sector)
o Incidence rates are highest among the logging and forestry, construction, and
manufacturing industries, and lowest within the finance and insurance sector
o occupations with the highest risk are those that involve semi-skilled manual labour

Other Health consequences of work:

 Work stress
 substance abuse
 psychological consequences: depression and anxiety

Sociology 203- Assigned Reading #9 April 1, 2022